2017 Special Session

July 22, 2017

OPPOSE

SB 3, SB 23, HB 46, HB 50 –

Privacy (Bathroom) & Birth Certificates Law

Instead of removing the most troublesome, legally untenable, and plainly impractical elements of the proposed SB 6 (the Privacy bill) of the regular session (please refer to our earlier position on SB 6), all of these new bills introduced in the special session double-down on them. One has to wonder if the authors of these bills outsourced the writing of their proposed bills to the most rabid, anti-conservative consultants whose real mission is to make Texas Republicans looks as ‘pro-discrimination’ as possible. Whatever their intentions to address the concerns of safety and privacy for individuals using “multiple-occupancy restrooms, showers, or changing facilities,” – or perhaps to head off real left-wing progressive attempts to micromanage such facilities that are privately-owned – these cannot possibly be advanced by any legislation that literally says localities may not take added steps to “protect a class of persons from discrimination.” That these words are actually in all these bills in this exact fashion, or some very close variation, puts into question not the religious or conservative values of these authors, but their very judgment of common sense. With that component and the birth certificates requirements that some of these bills include, we predict that even Governor Greg Abbott, who has expressed sympathy for the concerns of those who support these privacy bills, will find a way to stay away from passing any of these bills, as well he should.